Tamil Heritage Trust is an organization run by a few enthusiasts based in Chennai. We organize monthly talks on issues related to heritage and culture. We also organize intense heritage workshops.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Temples: Self Governed and Self Sufficient: T R Ramesh

தமிழ்ப்பாரம்பரியம்

(Tamil Heritage Trust)

presents

Temples: Self Governed and Self Sufficient

by

T R Ramesh

at 5.30pm on Saturday, September 7th, 2013

at Vinoba Hall, Thakkar Bapa Vidyalaya, T Nagar.

About the Topic:

This
talk is going to be about how systematically the Government control
came to be in Temples, the history of legislation of Endowments Laws,
the enormity of the temple properties, and how we can sustain, maintain
and conserve our temples including heritage temples with funds generated from the temple properties.

About the Speaker:

T
R Ramesh (s/o Dr. T N Ramachandran – Sekkizhar Adi-podi) was born in
Tanjore (1963). He holds a Masters Degree in Commerce and worked in the
Front Office of The Trident, Chennai for five years and later joined
Citibank.

In
2009, he offered his services - albeit as a lay devotee- to the
administrators of the ancient Chidambaram Temple - when their temple
was unjustly taken over by the State Government. Since then he has made
considerable research in law relating to Hindu Religious Institutions
and Endowments. From the year 2011 he has been fully engaged in
retrieving our temples from Government control. He has contributed a few
articles on Religious Endowments Law, and also, authored a book in
Tamil titled "அறிந்துகொள்வோம்அறநிலையத் துறையை ".

In
2011, he and a group of people from Chennai started a Registered
Society - Temple Worshippers Society. The main objective of the
society is to establish the religious and administrative rights back to
Hindus. These fundamental rights are guaranteed by the Indian
Constitution to all religious denominations - including Hindu
Denominations. The Society strongly believes that Hindu
Religious Institutions - particularly in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
have severely suffered under Government control and departmentalization.
While there have been many instances of interferences in Religious
matters by Government instrumentalities, poor administration
and mis-management of properties, what should be our biggest concern is
the destruction and defilement of our Heritage structures. To know more
about our Society you may visit our website www.templeworshippers.org. He is currently the President of the Society.

Every year, we organize an event called Pechchu Kachcheri, with a host of talks on a single topic. This year, it is going to be on Mamallapuram. To learn more about this event, click here. Mamallapuram Pechchu Kachcheri

Every year, we go on a study trip to a heritage site. In Jan 2013, we had visited Srirangam. You can follow the photos, audio, video, lectures, reading materials and more from that trip here. Srirangam Site Visit

Mahabalipuram - Unfinished Poetry in Stone, A coffee Table book in English by Prof. S. Swaminathan. Photos by Ashok Krishnaswamy. Click here to buy.